Instructors, artist, activist on tap

On the first Saturday of the month for more than 20 years, thousands of people have descended on the Short North for the Gallery Hop.

On the first Saturday of the month for more than 20 years, thousands of people have descended on the Short North for the Gallery Hop.

The evening toasts art with new exhibits, shopping, eating and more.

The official hours are 4 to 10 p.m., but many shops open earlier, and many bars and restaurants close much later.

Busy evening

Saturday evening could be a heady time at the Mahan Gallery, 717 N. High St., where a new exhibit will make its debut and a book signing will take place.

"Pre Fab and Fortified!" will feature an installation of paintings, video and wall sculptures by Rollin Beamish and Andrew Schell.

Beamish teaches art at Montana State University in Bozeman, and Schell does the same at the Billings branch of Montana State. Both received master's in fine arts from Ohio University in recent years and began collaborating after they settled out West.

To them, "Painting's obsolescence as a useful 'technology' in contemporary society makes it an appropriate site for reflection."

Meanwhile, Cleveland artist Derek Hess and Euclid activist and writer Kent Smith will sign Please God Save Us, a book of politically oriented art and writing. The topics range from stem-cell research to the war in Iraq.

Cool pieces

Glass feels cool, even on a hot day. At Cameo Gallery, 772 N. High St., Erin Nelson offers glass pieces by a variety of artists -- including blown glass by Jason Antol of Columbus and multilayered cameo glass created by Nelson's mother, Kelsey Murphy.

A hard-maple table with blood-wood inlay crafted by Daric Gill, who teaches at the Columbus College of Art & Design, is also coolly elegant, as are some newly arrived, delicate botanical paintings on silk by Deborah Falls, a Vermont artist.

Landscape takes

"Sites Seen" broadly examines landscapes and relationships with the world in a four-person exhibit opening Saturday in the Roy G Biv Gallery, 997 N. High St.

The exhibit will contain photography by Alexandra Copley, mixed media and a mural by Elizabeth Gerdeman, video by Sonya Lucas and sculpture by Aimee Sones, recent master's graduates from Ohio State University.

A gallery talk will start at 4 p.m. Saturday, with a reception during the hop.

Rockin' buttons

"Who sang the 1973 hit song Bad, Bad Leroy Brown?" the blackboard outside What the Rock?! asked last week.

Jim Croce, natch.

Mike Renner of the rock 'n' roll emporium at 1116 N. High St. provided the prize: a free button. The store also offers winners an alternative prize: a 10 percent discount on purchases.

But the button -- of the '60s rock band the Zombies -- was irresistible.